College as a Marriage Market

Lars Kirkebøen, Edwin Leuven, Magne Mogstad and Jack Mountjoy

No 28688, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: College graduates tend to marry each other. We use detailed Norwegian data to show that strong assortativity further arises by institution and field of study, especially among high earners from elite programs. Admission discontinuities reveal that enrollment itself, rather than selection, primarily drives matching by institution and field among the college-educated, and that these matches can be economically consequential. Elite professional programs, in particular, propel marginally admitted women into elite household formation: they earn substantially more themselves and match with higher-earning elite partners, becoming much more likely to join the top percentiles of household earnings while also reducing fertility. Marginal elite admission for men yields no change in partner earnings or fertility. College matchmaking effects are concentrated among students who attend the same institution at the same time, and are larger when opposite-sex peers are more abundant, indicating search costs in the marriage market.

JEL-codes: D13 I23 I24 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-04
Note: ED LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Working Paper: College as a Marriage Market (2021)
Working Paper: College as a Marriage Market (2021)
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